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Starting Editing
Enabling the Editor First, make a file called user.cfg in your d directory. So if your NetStorm directory is C:\NetStorm then the file name would be C:\NetStorm\d\user.cfg. Create the file using a text editor such as Notepad or Edit(for you DOS people). Now, type the following into the first line of file: mayEditMissions=1 Make sure the file is named user.cfg, and not user.cfg.txt. Windows notepad has an annoying habit of adding ".txt" to everything it edits. Making the Map How to Make a Map Making a map is quite simple and the editor interface is good. To start the editor first set it up if you haven't already, then go into NetStorm normally and click on the new button 'Edit'. It will ask you for a name - type in a filename with no spaces. Continue and start editing! When placing islands keep in mind that all the available islands are quite big and make sure you place them far enough apart! To place a unit you must actually give it all the energy it requires even though it is only editing mode. The priest must also be able to walk to the place where you are building a structure. To make the AI players, just add priests of your colour on other islands, right click on them and choose 'CHEAT Set Owner' (no it isn't cheating!) and change the player to someone else. Finally, you can make all bridges hardened, cracked or normal through the Edit/Set All Bridge menu. To make a spell an obelisk right click on it and choose 'Turn to Obelisk!'. Remember to add geysers and if you want them to have no owner then right click, choose 'CHEAT Set Owner' and change their owner to 'No Owner' - the graphic won't be updated automatically, so don't worry if it still has a player's mark on it. Do not click on File/Test Battle - this will crash the editor! The reason is that you need to make an ENGLISH file before the map works. Save the map and move on to Making the ENGLISH File Create the .english File A Crash Course in ENGLISH File Creation< Making an .english file is probably the hardest stage of the process. Please read this section carefully and it may help you to download the template.zip .english template which you can just fill in. Let's get started... The .english file has two main sections - Header and Options. The Header section has information about the players and AIs (money, names, etc.) and the Options section has the entry box (with the plot and the quote you know) and also other boxes for when you get defeated, win, and several more advanced boxes not covered in this section of the page. Use a txt editor to make the .english file, make sure you save it as a .english and not a .english.txt The filename must be the same as that of the .fort file you just created (look in the netstorm\d directory). To let people with the German copy of the game play your campaign, copy your .english file to a .german file of the same name (or translate it if you can). The Header has these variables: missionType - this always equals 'Tutorial' ie. missionType="Tutorial" missionNumber - the number of the mission in the campaign, if this is a 1 mission campaign just make it 1. moreGeysers - to control whether geysers appear during the game, 1 for yes, 0 for no. myStartMoney - starting money for the player. myTech - the player's knowledge. Please download tech.txt for a list of the unit names. title - the title of the map. ainName - the name of the nth AI player. Replace the yellow n with a number from 2 to 8. ainTech - the nth AI's knowledge. ainStartMoney - the nth AI's starting money. ainGeyserAttachments - the number of times the nth AI will attach to a geyser. ainCollectors - the number of collectors the AI will build to collect storm crystals. ainTimeBetweenMoves - the time between the AI's moves (reaction time basically). Range approx. 1-5. ainAllyList - the list of allies this AI has. '1' is the player. aincolor - the colour of this AI, make sure you get the right colours for the right players! Be sure to change the yellow n to a number from 2 to 8. Obviously you can have more than 1 AI in a game, just copy the variables and change the yellow n number and the values. The Options section has these mini-sections: A. - This section is the entry box, and it uses HTML code (basically) for the text in the box. The tags are , , , , and . Please go to a page on learning HTML if you don't know how and check out the .english template if you are unsure what to do. Also you will need to add these 2 lines after the HTML code in the A. section: $Button=Review Knowledge,ShowTechnology,55 $Button=Play Mission,DoNothing,0 These are the buttons to play the mission and review the knowledge. SucceededBadTeamDead - These are really two sections but if you have killed the bad team you usually win. This section uses HTML code just like the A. section. Add these 2 lines after the HTML code: <$Config,Done{mission.fileName}=1> $Button=Leave Missions,MissionAbort,1 Failed - The section for if you fail the mission. Just like the others put some HTML code here. And add this line: $Button=Continue,Tell,TryAgain END - Finally add END to the .english file. Do not type anything after this. Phew, you are finished at last! The Template Download the template and make your life easier! Just fill it in and you are done! Download it. category:NEC Creating Guide The Final Step You are almost there, just the campaign file to make! Let me explain it to you... First there is the the title that will be displayed in the when you choose the campaign to play. Just type title = then the name of your campaign in quotes eg. if the title was "My Campaign" it would be: title = "My Campaign" Next, put Overview and then on the next line. Then it is time for your little HTML code bit, giving a quick intro to the campaign. After that, add this bit with the yellow n replaced with the number of the mission, title replaced with the mission's title, filename replaced with the filename of the english file (without .english on the end) and Donemission replaced with Done plus the filename: $Checked=n title,MissionBegin,filename,{Donemission},1 For example if your first mission was called 'Death Valley' and the filename was 'dvalley' it would be: $Checked=1 Death Valley,MissionBegin,dvalley,{Donedvalley},1 Finally add: $Button=Back,Tell,Campaign Save your file as Guidesomething, where something is any name you want. The extension is still .english (copy it to .german). Well Done! Now you are finished and ready to play your campaign! Have fun and remember to send those maps in to us to be reviewed! category:NEC